Sichuan Blue Whales trounce Tianjin Pioneers for 1st win after season resumption

APD NEWS

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The Sichuan Blue Whales scored a blow-out 101-72 victory over the Tianjin Pioneers in the resumed 2019-2020 Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) season here on Monday.

It was also Sichuan's first win after the season's resumption.

The game was the second one of both sides' respective back-to-back series. Sichuan was trounced by the Jilin Northeast Tigers 85-97 on Sunday, with Tianjin on the same day losing a close game (83-84) to the Shandong Heroes.

Tianjin obviously suffered more from the back-to-back schedule with a low shooting percentage after the tip-off, and Sichuan built its lead in the first half 48-31 upon its dominance in rebounds, in which Sichuan led 27-16 before the interval.

Both sides ran with all-domestic rosters. The first substitution didn't come until the middle phase of the second quarter. Tianjin's Shi Deshuai, Sichuan's Chen Chen and Yuan Tangwen were on the court for the whole first half.

The gap was enlarged by as much as to 77-41 with less than two minutes on the clock, and the Pioneers found their hands were tied on both offense and defense. The last quarter turned out to be trash time, but the players still fought until the last minute.

Four players played for over 40 minutes. Chen Chen scored a game-high 25 points from his 40 minutes and 53 seconds on the court. His teammate Yuan Tangwen played a full game and led in assists with 16.

Both teams have six games to play during the first phase of the resumed season. Sichuan is scheduled to play against the Shanxi Loongs here on Wednesday, while Tianjin will take on the Shenzhen Aviators on the same day.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)